Holdback attachment for vehicles.



9 9, l 4! .W H ld e t n Du t a P N W 0 Dn B H H No. 628-,30l.

HOLDBACK ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

(Application filed Dec. 29, 1898.)

.(No Model.)

mwwboz fZ/I. Browll/ WilMemeo UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

HARRISON H. BROWN, oF'FoND DIQU LAo, WISCONSIN.

H o LDBA'C'K' ATTACH-M E-NT F R 'VEH IO LES.

SPECIFICATIQN forming-part of Letters Patent No. 628,301, dated July 4, 1899.

, Application filed December 29, 1898. Serial No. 700636. (No model.)

To all whom iii may concern; 7

Be it known that I, HARR SO H. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fond du Lac, in the county of Fond d u Lac and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Holdba'ck Attachments for Vehicles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,-and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap'pertains' to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements inholdback attachments for the thills of vehicles, and has for its object to provide a simple,

. nected, and thus prevent injury to the vehicle w V g v or occupants thereof.

A further object is to attachment which is designed to hold the strap at the'proper angle relatively to the thills and to prevent undue play of the strap'and wear thereon and objectionable strain on said at-.

tachment, and also to providea guard to shield the holdback attachment from injury or extraneous shocks or blows and prevent the tail of the draft-animal and the side edges of afiy-netting, when the latter is'used, from catching. in the latch or hook of the holdback.

more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a vehicle-thill having my -,i mproved holdback attachment applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the holdback-iron, showing the guard in broken lines. Fig. 3is a bottom plan View of the parts as shown in Fig; 1. through the thill, looking toward the outer end of the hook-arm. 7

Referring now more particularly to the drawings,wherein like reference-letters desigprovide a holdba'ck Fig. a is a cross-section nate corresponding parts throughout the sev eral views, A represents a portion'of a vehicle thill, and B the rear end of the holdbackiron, which consists of a comparatively broad fiat plate attached to the under side of the I thill to admit the folded end of the holdbaok-- strap D of the harness or an eye on the end thereof, and the upper face of this front portion of the arm is recessed to form a longitudinal chamber E, one side wall of which is preferably cut away, as at f, to provide a Projecting forwardly from this plate clearance-opening through which any dust or 'dirt which enters and clogs the chamber may drop out or be readily removed. Arranged in this chamberis'a curved latch G, pivoted at its rear end g to the arm and having its outer end g. curved downwardly into the forward partof the chamber to permit ofthe in sert-ion of they holdback-strap between the hook-arm andthill and its central portion g normally held pressed against the under side of the latch.

I The hook-arm extends parallel with the thill, adjacent to the inner edge ofthe same, and is connected at its rear end to an extension 7 projecting from the outer edge of the front portion of the plateB, by an obliquely-arranged inwardly-extendingshoulder I, which serves as a bearing for the holdback-strap D to hold the latter at'the proper anglenamely,

and the front edge of this shoulder is rounded to provide a broad bearing for and prevent cutting of the strap or undue wear thereon. In practice the folded or looped end of the substantiallyat an oblique angle to the thill--- strap is engaged with the. front end of the hook-arm and passed back until it engages the oblique shoulder, the latch opening under the pressure of the upper stretch of the strap to permit of the passage of the latter and then closing to retain the same in position against casual displacement. When this is done, it will be seen that the strap will be held from working forwardly under ordinary conditions by the angular arrangement of the hook-arm'at its junction with the shankand from working rearwardly by the'said'extens'ion h of the rear attaching-plate of the holdof a rod or bar J, having upwardly-bent ends 7t and 70 arranged in alinement, and the former being secured directly to the under side of the thill in advanee'and to one side of the front end of the hook-arm through an opening k in the attaching-plate of the holdbackiron and fitted in a socket or opening in the thill. The central body portion of the guard is deflected laterally toward the innerside of the thill and is arranged immediately below the hook-arm, and at its rear it has an angular extremity 7a which lies below the front edge of the attaching-plate B just inside of the extension thereof and oblique bearing-shoulder and serves as a stop to prevent the strap from sagging downward or bulging out to an objectionable extent. The end it of the guard also acts in conjunction with the bearingshoulder and rear end of the hook-arm to limit the lateral movement of the strap. The guard as constructed oifectually shields the parts of the holdback iron and prevents the tail of the horse or side edges of a ily-netting from wrapping around or being caught by the hook-arm or latch thereof.

The manner in which the holdback is connected and retained in position has been heretofore described, and it will be readily perceived that under ordinary conditions the strap cannot become accidentally disengaged. .When the traces are. released or become broken or disconnected, however, the forward pull on the strap causes the latter to clear the oblique shoulder and the latch yields to permit of the withdrawal of the strap, thus allowing the draft-animal to move out from the thills. By this means injury to the vehicle or occupants thereof is prevented when the traces become disconnected and the draft animal bolts.

It will be understood,of course,that changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. A holdback attachmentfor vehicle-thills provided at its rear end with an attachingplate and at its front end with a chambered hook-arm arranged in line with one side of the plate and connected to. the opposite side thereof by an obliquely-arranged bearingshoulder, and a spring-actuated latch arranged in the chamber of the arm and adapted to bear against the thill.

2. The combination with a thill, of a holdback attachment therefor provided atits rear end with a plate secured to the under side of the thill and having an extension projecting forwardlyfrom the outer side thereof, achambered hook-arm extending parallel with the thill adjacent to the inner edge of the latter, an obliquely-arranged bearing-shoulder connecting the rear end of the arm to said extension, and a spring-actuatcd latch pivoted in the chamber of the arm and bearing adjacent the under side of the thill, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a vehicle-thill, of a holdback attachment therefor, comprising a rearattaching-plate secured to the under side of the thill, and provided with an exten sion projecting forwardly from the outer front edge thereof, a chambered hook-arm extending parallel with the thill adjacent to the inner edge thereof, an obliquely-arranged bearing-shoulder connecting the rear end of the hook-arm to the extension, and a guard secured to the under side of the thill and shielding said parts, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRISON II. BROWN.

\Vitncsses:

PAULINE BULLIs, N. O. GTFFIN.

It. s] 

